The Florida Institute of Oceanography's (FIO)
SEAKEYS (Sustained Ecological Research Related to
Management of the Florida Keys Seascape) program
began in 1989 and has continued until the present.
This program, now being supported through NOAA's
South Florida Ecosystem Restoration, Prediction
and Modeling Program (SFERPM), implements a
framework for long-term monitoring and research
along the 220 mile Florida coral reef tract and in
Florida Bay at a geographical scale encompassing
the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
(FKNMS). The network consists of six
instrument-enhanced Coastal-Marine Automated
Network (C-MAN) stations, cooperatively managed
with NOAA's National Data Buoy Center, plus a
proposed new one in northwest Florida Bay. These
stations measure the usual C-MAN meteorological
parameters, such as wind speed, gusts and
barometric pressure, but are enhanced with
oceanographic instruments measuring salinity, sea
temperature, fluorometry and turbidity.

Purpose:

The impetus for such a framework was the perceived
marked regional decline in coral reefs and the
critical need to provide data and options for
resource management.

Supplemental_Information:

Wind speed is in knots; barometric pressure is in millibars;
wind direction is in degrees of the compass;
temperature is in Celsius;
; -9 in the
data set indicates that the parameter is
unavailable

Disclaimer- While every effort has been made to ensure that these data
are accurate and reliable within the limits of the current state of
the art, NOAA cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any
errors or omissions in the data, nor as a result of the failure of
the data to function on a particular system. NOAA makes no warranty,
expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute
such a warranty.